Ladder.



S. A. MILLER.

LADDER.

APPLICATION HLED MAY 8. 1914.

00 1 9 1 -0 2 T... p A d 9 Lb H 6 t aw P vwam coz THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH (10.. WASHINGTON, I). C

SILAS A. MILLER, enr-rsinnn'ri, rcnrsan.

Lamina,

menace.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 25, llllltl.

Applieatjon tiled May 8, 1914. Serial No. 837,318.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, SILAS A. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ypsilanti, in the county of l t ashtenaw and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ladders, of which the following is a speeilication, reference being had therein to' the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to improvements in extension ladders, and has for its object the provision of an improved construction of hook, adapted to be mounted on the side rail of one of the sections of a ladderof the type referred to in a position to engage and perform a supporting function in connection with the rungs of the adjoining ladder section.

It has been customary in this art to provide supporting hooks with means associated with the hook proper to autolllatically def flect the same out of the path of the rungs over which the hook may ride as an incident to the relative sliding adjustment of the lad der sections, one of such means being manually operable to withdraw the same away from the mouth of the hook when permitting the latter to engage the rung desired. To permit the hook to swing to and fro under the automatic deflection to which I have alluded, the shank of the hook has heretofore been pivotally secured tn the rail of the ladder section selected to carry the hook, at a point in line with the longitudinal axis of the shank, or approximately so. In

such an arrangement, to disengage the hogk, it is necessary to raise the same by raising the ladder section supported by the hook to permit the hook to escape the rung which it engages, the hook simply swinging around an are described from said pivot of the shank.

It is the purpose of the present improvement to mount the hook from a pivotal point offset from said longitudinal axis of the shank, or as it might be said, to pivot the shank eccentrically so that when deflected outwardly it will be elevated to a substantial extent iLlXWG and away from the rung which it may be engaging for the time being, so that it is simply necessary to relieve the hook of the weight of the extension borne thereby, by a relatively slight raising movement of the extension, before the hook can be thrown upwardly and outwardly from the rung.

structurally speaking, the preferred embodiment of the invention, capable of accomplishing the results above stated, comprises the usual hook provided with a shank, and said shank terminating in, or having an offset or crank extension, which latter is in turn pivotally mounted to the rail of the ladder section, so that swinging the hook on said piyot will cause the shank thereof to be raised materially by the movement of the crank around the pivot, as well as at the same time causing a receding movement of the hook relative to the face of the ladder section adjacent to that which bears the hook,or hooks, as the case may be, a pair being employed at times one adjacent to web side of t l e In the drawings forming part hereof, and wherein said embodiment of the invention is illustrated, Figure-l is a longitudinal vertical section of anextension ladder showing the improved hook in supporting position, Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the hook deflected away from the ladder rungs when the sectiens are being adjusted, Fig. 3 shows the position and relation of the parts of the hook as disengaged from supporting engagement with a rung, and Fig. t is a vertical sectional'view of the hook and its supporting P at taehecl f m he add r- Beferring more specifically to the drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to corresponding parts in the several views, A and B represent sections of an extension ladder, the former what we might term the section, and the latter the upper or extensible section.

On one or both of the side rails b of the upper section I mount my improved hook, or hooks as the case may be, adapted to engage the rungs a of the base section A. A specific description of one of these hooks will suffice.

C is a metallic base plate adapted to besecured, through the medium of screws or the equivalent 0, flat against the side rail of the ladder section B, preferably near the lower end thereof to give a greater range of adjustment of the ladder sections, this plate bearing a pivot D on which the hook now to be described is pivoted for freedom of move ment. The hook proper having the usual downwardly opening mouth, is represented at E reinforced by ribbing or thickening the metal at the inner edge 6 thereof, and the shank of the hook extending downwardly .in an approximately vertical direction is shown at F.- As distinguished from pivoting the end of the shank F to the plate C, said shank terminates in an offset extension G disposed, generally speaking, horizontally, the end of which offset portion or crank being directly pivoted on the pivot D, to which I have previously alluded.

To limit the swinging movement of the hook in opposite directions, stop shoulders or lugs H and I are carried by the base plate O, conveniently formed integrally with the latter, the lug I engaging the bottom edge of the offset or crank G, and the lug I-I engaging above said offset portion or, more specifically, in the corner formed by the junction of the shank F with the offset.

To deflect the hook outwardly away from the rungs on the base section A of the ladd r when the upper section B is being raised, incidentally causing the riding of the hook over the rungs, the same is provided with the usual curved extension J adapted to engage the rungs and in riding thereove-r, force the hook outwardly. On the other hand, when the section B is being closed upon the base section A, the weighted latch K closes the mouth of the hook and extends somewhat therebeyond as at In, to similarly ride over forms, as may be embraced within the hereto appended claim. I claim:

In an extension ladder, the combination with adjustable ladder sections, of a'plate secured to one of said sections, a hook comprising a straight shank portion, a hook portion at the upper end of the shank portion extending to one side thereof and opening downwardly, a straight crank portion at the lower end of shank portion extending at an acute angle to the shank to the side thereof opposite the side at which the hook portion is located, and a curved downwardly extension projecting upwardly and rearwardly from the front of the hook portion, the crank portion being of a substantial length and increasing in width and weight at its free end to form a weighted end for the hook to sustain the same in its supporting position, the shank at its outer end being pivoted to the plate, a pair of lugs arranged on the plate and extending outwardly therefrom to engage the hook at the lower end thereof, and at opposite sides for limiting the movement of the hook, both of said lugs being located to one side of the vertical plane of the pivotal connection of the crank portion with the plate, one of the lugs being arranged above and the other lug being arranged below the horizontal plane of the pivotal connection, and a latch pivoted intermediate its ends to the shank of the hook and having a bill projecting into the plane of the rungs of the opposite ladder section, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

SILAS A. MILLER. Witnesses:

LEE N. BROWN, ARTHUR E. HORN.

Copies 0! this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

